Mark held Arianne by her slender waist and said with a tone brimming jealousy, “If you ever dare talk to another man behind my back again, I’ll make you move from your current desk and sit in my office.”Arianne wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled provocatively. “You were the one who asked me to learn as much as I can from Sylvain, how am I supposed to learn if I don’t talk to him? Eye contact? When that happened, you think I was seducing him. Relax, Robin’s the one he loves. He was even forced to meet her parents last night. Why did you call me into your office? Could it be… that you’re looking for a good time in your office?”Mark lowered his head and kissed her lips. “What are you even thinking? You may have the thought in your head, but I haven’t got the time. There’s a parcel that just came for you, I think it’s from your mom. I heard that she came to visit you while I wasn’t around.”Arianne released her hold on him and walked toward the desk to find a parcel on top of
Arianne took a deep breath. “Why are you apologizing? He’s your ex-husband, and his actions aren’t related to you at all. Therefore, there’s no need for you to apologize nor return to the country to resolve this. Since I’ve discovered the culprit, I’ll be able to deal with it accordingly. You should remain hidden. Wouldn’t you be walking right into his trap if you show up?”Helen disagreed. “Arianne, things aren’t as simple as you think. He has been driven up to a corner and has nothing to lose. He’s like a rabid dog now. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do. You should never underestimate a man who has got nothing to lose, you wouldn’t be able to come out of it unscathed. Regardless, I’m the one who started this so I should be the one to end it.”How could Arianne allow Helen to put herself at risk after learning about that? “You mustn’t return. It’s not up for discussion. I’ll ask my men to look for him. Let’s see what’s the worst he could do to me!”After hanging up, Arianne said throu
Arianne’s tone did not change as she said, “Brian hasn’t been coming to work for a while now. I don’t even know where he is. Even if I did, I wouldn’t help you contact him. You should forget about him. He has already said that he doesn’t wish to see you ever again. Was he not clear enough? It’s pointless for you to stubbornly persist. If you really have something to tell him, you can tell me, and I’ll pass on the message.”The girl broke down in tears. “Please, just let me see him once. I didn’t agree to break up. Shouldn’t this thing be discussed face to face? It can’t be one-sided. Please, I need to see him one last time. If you won’t let me, I’ll die right here!”Arianne was shocked. A person going through a breakup was capable of doing foolish things. Things could get difficult if the girl decided to kill herself or injure herself there. She suppressed her fury from being threatened and said, “Fine. I’ll give Brian a call, but it’s up to him whether he wants to come or not. If he
The girl jumped up in anger the moment she heard Brian say he was getting married. “Married? You’re getting married right after you broke up with me? You must have been seeing someone while we were dating! You’re really something, Brian Pearce, you’re a womanizer! Is she better than me? Did she not ask for anything from you and offered to give you everything instead? What else could it be? Are you lying to me about getting married? Let me make this clear; either you marry me or you compensate me for ruining my reputation. Saying that, it’d be much better if you choose to marry me and gain a wife. Otherwise, you’d only lose your money and gain nothing in return. Your call!”Brian could no longer be bothered to waste his time with her. “I will neither pay you nor marry you. I’m telling you the truth when I say I’m going to get married soon. It doesn’t matter what you say or what you think.”Mark did not enter the house after the car had been parked, he walked to the main gates instead.
Aery suddenly asked, “Where’s Mark? Isn’t he home?”Arianne’s expression turned cold. “Why are you looking for him?”Aerie quickly realized her mistake. “I-it’s… It’s nothing. It’s just a random question. Please don’t be mad, big sis…”Helen glanced at Aery unhappily. “You should be careful, and take care of yourself for the time being, Arianne. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to the hotel with Aery now. Call me if you need me.”Arianne nodded and did not say anything since she was still in a foul mood.When Helen and Aery left, Mark came downstairs. “They’ve left? I think… it’s not safe for them to stay in the hotel, is it? If Jean manages to find them and does something unimaginable, the outcome could be quite disastrous. Jean has just left prison, it’d be difficult for him to survive. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do now since he’s driven to a corner.”Arianne knew what Mark meant. “I did think of asking them to stay here, but the words just wouldn’t leave my mouth. I ke
Arianne fell momentarily silent before she finally said, “Fine. Bring them here. It’s safer here. I don’t care if Aery lives or dies. I’m doing this because of Helen. After all, she gave birth to me.”Mark saw Arianne relax a little and said, “I’ll ask Henry to pick them up. You rest easy and go to bed.”How could Arianne possibly rest easy? She tugged Mark’s ear and said, “Promise me, don’t spare Aery an extra glance. Every time you look at her, I feel disgusted! Also, if Aery makes me uncomfortable, I’ll have her thrown out!”This was Mark’s first time having his ear pulled. He swatted her hand away. “Do what you want. I’m just giving you a suggestion, you make the decision. There’s nothing going on between Aery and me. I dated her to irritate you. I’ve never even touched her. Why should you feel sick? I was wrong, okay? Alright, that’s enough. Go to bed.”Arianne did not respond. No matter how hard she tried, she could not sleep. When Henry brought them to the house, she walked
Arianne sat on the side of the bed with a sullen expression on her face. “I think I made myself unhappy by inviting Aery into our home.”Mark did not know what to say. Now that he and Aery were living in the same house, there was bound to be some interaction. At the very least, they had to share the same table during meals. He truly regretted his past idiocy at that moment. Although he had never really dated Aery, Arianne would never forgive Aery for what she had done to Tiffany. He had to pay extra attention to his behavior now that Helen and Aery were living in Tremont Estate. One wrong move, and he might set off an explosion. He was the one having the most difficult time.Noticing his silence, Arianne suddenly got up and pulled his tie. She stood on tiptoes and gave him a hickey on his neck. “Get to work.”He touched his slightly sore neck. He was not used to this. He had sensitive skin after all. “Er… How am I supposed to see anyone with this? Must you do this? I was only lookin
“We’re not here on vacation,” Helen said snappily, “Can’t you be more sensible?”Aery kept quiet. She lowered her head and pushed her food around, looking very pitiful.Arianne did not give in. After she finished eating, she took Aristotle to the courtyard for playtime.Aery tagged along as well. “Hey, sis, my old friend asked me out to have some fun. Wanna come? I’m only going for a short while. Nothing’s going to happen with my friends around. It’ll be fine even if my dad finds me. We’ll go to high traffic places. I won’t leave with him.”Arianne knew that making Aery stay put in Tremont Estate was unrealistic. All she could do was pray that Aery would not cause any trouble. “Think this through. I won’t be responsible for anything that happens to you. You’d better ask your mom as well. I can’t decide, and you don’t have to ask for my approval.”Aery held Arianne’s hand and acted in a cute manner as she said, “You know mom won’t allow me out, sis. I have no choice but to come to
Arianne had not heard that name for so long, she had to reel back in bemusement for a few seconds before finally remembering her face.Shelly-Ann Leigh… She must have spent all those years in the mental institution, right? God knows if the woman’s hair was now grey and white all over.When someone was near death, one could stand to forgive all of the history between them—even the dark ones, even if the ledger was brimming—for good. So, Arianne replied, “I’ll go with you. No matter what happened, she’s still your mother.”Mark did not expect that answer from her at all. In his surprise, he bent down and left a kiss on her lips. “I knew I picked the right woman as my wife. I thought you wouldn’t agree to let me accompany her for the last of her days…”Arianne replied nothing. She was not so obtuse that she would try to win over a woman whose days were numbered. No matter how much of an a**hole Shelly was, Arianne was still the one who came out on top. That victory was all she needed.
Arianne sneered. “You confused, little thing. I wouldn’t be daft enough to anger the mother of the man I like if I were you, girl. I would especially not say anything as low IQ as that, too. Let me be completely frank with you: no one who bears the surname of Leigh will ever get the better of me—the last one failed. Hard. I can guarantee that you’ll leave us in the span of three days. If I lose, you can stay here forever. Wanna bet? I dare you.”She left her threat hanging at that and turned her wheelchair away, leaving the scorned young woman behind.Rage came out of Raven as waves of quakes all over her body. She was lurching close to hyperventilation, but right before it became impossible to stop, she came around and battled herself to calm down. She had a feeling that even if she fainted right there and then, no one would discover her, would they?Now that Arianne and Mark had returned, the Tremont Estate had recovered its vivacity and life. It had become merry.And Raven Leigh
Melissa was the type who always pushed things to go as festive as logically possible. She leaped to her feet and raised her cup, “Yo, everyone! Let’s toast to Cindy becoming my cousin-in-law!”The crowd answered enthusiastically with their cups in the air and a roar—except Raven, who remained seated. “I have a sickly constitution. I can’t drink. I’m sorry.”Her smile was so mechanical, her face too ashen. Something flickered in Arianne’s eyes before she replied, “Sure.”After the revelry faded, Arianne steered her wheelchair to the courtyard. The outward appearance of the Tremont Estate seemed to have frozen in time, which was why being here made her feel so… safe.Of course, that was despite Henry and Mary’s passing. In the end, time passed and things changed, characters and objects came and went, and all these missing years left lingering regrets in their wake.Arianne espied the silhouette standing alone at a distance and approached her, sighing, “Nothing beats being home.”Ra
Arianne grabbed the two beauties by the hands and smiled. “Thank you! Gosh, to me… it’s like you two have grown older in the blink of an eye! How gorgeous the two of you are! Cindy, where’s your brother? Plato hasn’t come home yet?”Mentioning the name of her dear brother made Cynthia pout. “He said he was coming home half a month ago—that’s what he said. Who knows what he’s actually doing, though? Anyway, who cares about that no-good. He’s always like this anyway. Oh, um, the weather is quite hot. We should probably get inside.”Arianne nodded and shot a brief, uneasy look at Aristotle. Not once did he look like he wanted to talk to her… Could the boy be counting his grievances in his mind? Mark and Arianne had stayed in Switzerland for so long; life must have been hard for him all alone.It took until she reached the living room to finally notice Raven. “Millie, is this your younger sister?”Melissa quickly sprung to correct her. “What? Noooo. This is Ares’ classmate or something
Aristotle’s entire being stilled.He had waited for this news for nineteen years. As time passed, the flames died little by little, the heart grew more numb, until the very thought of it was no different from a pipe dream. But today, news of it coming true reached him and plunged him into a torrent of feelings.A long while later, he finally muttered under his breath, “When… When will they be back?”Jackson closed the distance between them and gave the young man a light, comforting pat on the shoulders. “Not so soon, I bet; not when your mother has just woken up and is in need of some time to recover. She did sleep for nineteen years, you know. So maybe after she’s recuperated enough for a while…” he answered. “We’ve waited for nineteen years for this, right? What’s waiting for just a little bit more compared to that? The most important thing for you to do is to manage the company to the best of your abilities. That’s the way to not disappoint your father’s expectation.”Aristotle
Cynthia had never had a relationship before, so she did not know what love was. However, one thing was for certain. She loved the feeling of being with Aristotle and how he had protected her since they were kids. Even though Aristotle had become a little domineering and “naughty”, she was not taken aback by him. Instead, she even felt a little moved, which was amazing.It wasn’t known how they ended up in bed, with their breaths synchronized. Apart from the final step, they had done just about everything else that could be done.Just as they were about to hit the final step, Aristotle suddenly stopped and helped pull the covers over Cynthia. “Let’s sleep, good night.”Cynthia was still lost in a daze from before. She did not know why Aristotle had suddenly stopped, nor did she have the courage to ask him. She had struggled for so long before having persuaded herself to go with the flow…The next day, when Cynthia woke up, Aristotle had already long gone to his company.She took a
Cynthia heard what Aristotle said, but her hands did not stop doing what they were doing. Her head was in a complete mess. “There’s no… no need. I’ll be able to be done with these now. Go ahead and get some sleep first. By the way, where am I sleeping tonight? There are so many rooms here, I’ll ask Agnes to help me clear one up.”Aristotle walked up to her and squatted. He grabbed onto her arm with one hand while the other closed the luggage. “Just sleep with me here and stop tidying already.”Cynthia suspected that she might have misheard. She took a look at the big bed behind him in a daze and suddenly felt her palm, which was held by him, burning up. “Y… You’re kidding, aren’t you, Ares? Although we used to sleep with each other a lot when we were kids, we’re all grown ups now, so wouldn’t that be a little inappropriate?”Aristotle said with a straight face, “I wasn't joking.”Cynthia panicked a little and recalled Melissa’s words once again. ‘Would Ares, whom I’ve known for so
Melissa knew that Aristotle had kissed Cynthia, so she knew what was going on. Hence, she very naturally boasted, “Of course, they’ve been engaged to each other since they were born. Coincidentally, the both of them felt the same way about each other as they grew up, so wouldn’t this make it even better? From the way I see it, your illness isn’t going to recover for the rest of your life and the both of them are probably going to have to wait until Cindy graduates before they get married. So, you’d be better off moving back to France as early as possible. Don’t worry, you’ve saved Aristotle’s life before, so he wouldn’t be stingy with you financially.”Raven wanted to control the unhappiness she had in her heart very much, but her emotions refused to follow her will. Hence, she fiercely struggled to wring free from Melissa’s grasp. Melissa was startled for a moment. “Are you crazy?”After that, Raven regained her senses and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry… I was a little unwell just n
‘You’re not that worried?’ Melissa was so furious that she laughed. “Am I the only one who’s being worried for nothing? I thought you loved my brother, didn’t you? The man you’ve been dreaming of every day has returned from France but brought a woman with him, yet you’re actually not that worried? Let’s put aside your parents’ intentions for a moment. Do you dare to say that you don’t love him? I’m only helping you because you’re my best friend, so could you not be so relaxed, as if I’m helping you for no reason?”Cynthia shook her head and lowered her volume as she said, “He… might have confessed to me. We also… did that already. So, I think he doesn’t feel that way towards Raven. It’s purely because she saved his life once. I trust that Ares will be able to handle the situation properly.”Melissa’s eyes opened wide. “What? He’s only returned for a few days, yet the two of you have already had sex? That fast?! I never knew it, but you’ve really got it in you!”Cynthia’s face flushe